ST. LOUIS – Crystal Weaver and Andrew Dwiggins are therapists without lab coats. Weaver was hired to kick of the music therapy program at the St. Louis University Cancer Center in June 2011. As a result, patients visiting find their treatment plan could include music if they choose.

“The music is a tool like all those other tools that we utilize in healthcare. We use music to help people be more relaxed, to be more calm,” Weaver said.

The pair visited Tommy from Berryville, Arkansas, who was first diagnosed 12 years ago with Hodgkin Lymphoma. Tommy understands that a weakened immune system isolates the patient when hospitalized.

“And they come in and they play and they sing for you, and it takes so much of the anxiety away, and calms you down. It makes you feel good,” Tommy said. READ MORE

They may seem completely different, but research studies conducted over the last few decades have found some very real connections between cancer and autism. The underlying connections are genetic. There seem to be gene mutations that put people at risk for cancer and that also are related to or even cause autism in children. This could have important implications for people with mesothelioma and other types of cancers, but also for children struggling with autism. Treatments for one condition may be applicable to the other, and better genetic information will help...READ MORE